Archive for month: September, 2013

I have a 4 ½-year-old great-niece Reese. She’s really a great niece and has boundless energy. She also has a fierce, very strong independent streak. As long as we’ve played together, if I try to help her with something she’ll firmly tell me, “No Vickie. I’ll do it.”

Yesterday I overheard a young woman breaking up with her boyfriend while on the toilet. I felt like I was invading her privacy, even though she’s the one who chose to bring this conversation to a semi-public forum. I was happy that it wasn’t anyone from my office and I didn’t want to hear more of the exact details so I washed my hands and got back to work.

Early on in my career as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant I was hesitant to take on the role of a testifying expert and I refused numerous opportunities to testify. Then I decided it was time to jump start my CLNC® business, so the next time an attorney asked me I said yes.

When things go wrong at Vickie Milazzo Institute I’m known for saying, “If business was easy, everybody would be in doing it.” That philosophy, and a good laugh, has gotten me through many a bad moment.

I don’t like to be wrong. Even worse, I don’t like to get caught being wrong. Even worse than being wrong, and being caught being wrong, is when it’s your spouse who’s right and you are not. This most often happens when I’ve told her a particular piece of technology, hardware or software, can’t do something. A few minutes later I’ll hear a triumphant, “Hah!” after she Googles it and discovers that it can do exactly what I convinced myself (but not her) it could not. The next thing I’ll hear is a polite, “Make it so.”

You can think about your marketing plan and talk about marketing your legal nurse consulting business until you’re blue in the face, but it won’t get you any business from attorneys. In fact, all that excess thinking and talking will do is tire you out.

Gaming apps are fun and are all the rage. While I admit I’ve rejected them outright and therefore am probably not qualified to have an opinion on them, I have one anyway... I’m sure games have their place, and in my opinion their place is not at the breakfast, lunch or dinner table or in the attorney’s conference room. Playing “Words with Friends” can wait until you’ve had words, and meals, with family. Tom and I ban smartphones from the table at home and in restaurants with or without friends. Checking texts and email during a meal is the social equivalent of picking your nose in public or saying to your BFF, “This conversation is really interesting, but excuse me while I score three more points…”

The September issue of the Harvard Business Review features the biases (emotional, bossy, too nice) that still hold female leaders back. While the articles give some interesting insights, in my opinion the debate is over and these perceptions are tiresome.

Writing an affidavit for medical malpractice cases is just one more thing you can do as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. An affidavit is a voluntary written declaration of fact given under oath and sworn as true, usually before a notary public or officer of the court. An affidavit may also be called a letter of merit, affidavit of merit, declaration of merit, certificate of review or verified written medical expert opinion.

That’s an easy question – a laptop should never be a laptop. Sure, they’re lightweight and portable, however, if you place your laptop on your actual lap you risk blocking the cooling fans and the unit may overheat causing permanent damage. Pick up your laptop and turn it over – the cooling fans/vents are probably right there on the bottom where the laptop would sit on your legs. If the fan/vent is on the side – well, sit and work away!